Six o'clock swill

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Beer-drinking has long been an integral part of Australian culture.

The Six o'clock Swill was the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th Century, Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 p.m.; between finishing work (5 p.m.) and this early closing hour, men drank heavily.

Contents

1 The rush to drink
2 Introduction of early closing
3 Extension of closing time
4 References in culture
5 Endnotes
6 See also
7 External links

The rush to drink

Six o'clock closing time was introduced partly in an attempt to improve public morals and get men home to their wives at a reasonable hour. Instead, it often fuelled an hour long speed drinking session as men raced to get as drunk as possible in the limited time available: "The bartender didn't carry your glass to the tap. He carried a pistol-shaped spigot hitched to a long tube and squirted your glass full where you stood" [link].

Introduction of early closing

Place	Adopted	Abolished
Six o'clock closing
NSW	1916	1955
SA	1915	1967
Tas	1916	1937
Vic	1916	1966
NZ	1917	1967

Six o'clock closing was introduced during World War I. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Rechabites campaigned successfully for limits on the sale of alcohol and beer. Although the temperance movement had been active since the late 1870s, they mounted the successful argument in 1915 and onwards that a "well-ordered, self-disciplined and morally upright home front was a precondition for the successful prosecution of the war."^{[#endnote_BeaumontAW]}

The first state to introduce early closing was South Australia in 1915 where the rationale was a war austerity measure. Six o'clock closing was adopted in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in 1916. It was introduced in New Zealand in 1917. Queensland introduced eight o'clock closing in 1923.

The question of closing hours was put to New South Welsh voters in June 1916. The question had previously been put to the vote in December, 1913 when the results of the Local Option Poll were in favour of 11 o'clock closing. The 1916 vote was influenced by a recent riot involving soldiers. In February 1916, troops mutinied against conditions at the Casula Camp. They raided hotels in Liverpool before travelling by train to Sydney, where one soldier was shot dead in a riot at Central Railway station. ^{[#endnote_RobsonAGW]}

Although it was introduced as a temporary measure, in 1919 it was made a permanent measure in Victoria and South Australia. The New South Wales Government brought in temporary extensions and discussed putting the matter to a referendum. In 1923, however, without testing the matter by a popular vote, 6 p.m. was enacted in NSW as a closing time.^{[#endnote_FreelandPub]}

Hotels catered for a short heavy drinking period after work before the early evening closing by extending their bars and tiling walls for easy cleaning. The phenomenon changed Australian pubs as rooms in the building were converted to bar space; billiard rooms disappeared and bars were knocked together. ^[3]

Extension of closing time

Closing time was extended to 10 o'clock in Tasmania from 1937. The issue of ending early closing was voted on in New South Wales in 1947 but the proposal was voted down. A vote in 1954 was narrowly won and closing hours were extended to 10 p.m. in 1955. Hours were extended in Victoria in 1966. South Australia was the last state to abolish six o'clock closing with legislation introduced by Don Dunstan in 1967.

The term also applied in New Zealand where ten o'clock closing was introduced in October 1967 after a referendum. [link] An earlier referendum, in 1949, had voted three to one to retain six o'clock closing.

References in culture

The Bar (1954) by John Brack

The Bar (1954), a painting by John Brack which was based on the Six o'clock swill was sold for a record price for an Australian painting of $3.17 million. [link] Another painting by him, Collins St, 5 p.m. (1955) held by the National Gallery of Victoria is also based on the 5-o'clock rush to get to the bar.

Endnotes

↑ , page 81.
↑ , pages 12 and 63-65.
↑ , page 175.

External links

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